Open-sided container



Dec. 9, 1969 I s. D. COLLIE 3,482,756

OPEN-SIDED CONTAINER D 9, 1969 v s. D. CQLLIE 3,482,756

OPEN-SIDED CONTAINER Filed April 29, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J Tum r "#1FIG. 3

INVENTOR. S. D. COLLI E A TTORNEYS Dec. 9, 1969 s. D. COLLIE 3,432,756

' OPEN-SIDED CONTAINER Filed April 29, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 VENT .COL lBY v A 7' TOPNEYS Dec. 9, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 S. D. COLLIE OPEN-SIDEDCONTAINER Filed April 29. 1968 A 7' TORNE rs FIG. 5

United States Patent ice 3,482,756 OPEN-SIDED CONTAINER Staiford D.Collie, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, acorporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 724,862 Int. Cl.B65d 1/26, 1/34 US. Cl. 2292.5 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to packaging and containers. In another aspect, thisinvention relates to a novel open-sided container.

An important item of expense in the marketing of fragile objects such asglassware, pottery, and chinaware, is breakage during handling andshipment. As a result, elaborate shipping cartons have been devised.Generally, fragile objects are removed from shipping containers byretail merchants and placed on display for full consumer handling andviewing. Many times the shipping cartons for fragile objects arecompletely destroyed or damaged when the objects are removed therefromfor display. Also, in many instances the shipping packages for fragileobjects are designed to carry a multitude of the objects and cannot beutilized by the customer for carrying small numbers of these objectsfrom the retail establishment. In these instances, the retail merchant,as a service to the customer, usually individually wraps the fragileobjects after they are purchased.

One object of this invention is to provide a novel opensided containerwhich is adapted so that objects can be inserted within and removedtherefrom without damaging the container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel Open-sidedcontainer which can function both as a product container as well as adispensing package.

According to the invention, a novel open-sided container is providedwhich is particularly adapted to package fragile items such asglassware. The containers are made from two opposed trays or retainingmembers held apart at a fixed distance by at least one post member.

This invention can be better understood from a study of the drawing inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the container of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of the container ofFIGURE 1; and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are plan views of other embodi ments of this invention.

Now referring to FIGURES 1-3, there is illustrated an open-sidedcontainer of this invention which is particularly adapted to hold fourcups. As will be explained in detail below, the open-sided container ofthis invention can be designed to pack objects other than cups such asglasses, bowls, vases, etc. Also, as illustrated in FIGURES 45, theopen-sided container of this invention can be adapted to carry eithermore or less objects than the particular embodiment illustrated inFIGURES 1-3 which will be described in detail below. Thus, theopen-sided container can be any convenient shape such as square,

3,482,756 Patented Dec. 9, 1969 round, oval or rectangular. Therefore,the particular configuration of the open-sided container is not intendedto limit the scope of this invention.

Referring again to FIGURES 1-3, retaining members 10 and 11 are held afixed distance apart by post member 12 which comprises post sections 13which, in turn, comprises molded protrusions from retaining members 10and 11, respectively. As illustrated in this embodiment, retainingmembers 10 and 11 are identical objects molded from a suitablethermoplastic material. Suitable thermoplastic materials which can beutilized to mold the packages of this invention include polymers andcopolymers of l-olefins having from 1-8 carbon atoms such aspolyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene-l and copolymers thereof;styrene polymers and copolymers of styrene with other monomers such asacrylonitrile; rubber modified polystyrene,acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymers, vinyl chloride polymers andcopolymers, acrylic polymers such as polymers of methyl methacrylate ormodified acrylic polymers such as copolymers of methyl methacrylate anda-methyl styrene, cellulosic polymers such as cellulose acetate, andpolyamides. It is preferred that the thermoplastic material utilized asconstruction material for the open-sided package of this invention betransparent to enhance visual inspection of objects containedtherewithin; however, colored resins can be used advantageouslyespecially for bottom-retaining member 11.

Each retaining member 10 and 11 carries indentations 14 and 15, cuphandle locking protrusions 16, cup bracing members 17, and theabove-described post sections 13. As illustrated in the drawings,indentations 14 are designed to retain the bottom of cup 18 (FIGURE 2).Indentations 15 which encircle indentations 14 are designed to retainthe upper periphery of each individual cup lip, and cup handle lockingprotrusions 16 are designed to engage and hold each individual cuphandle (FIGURES 1 and 2) in a fixed position to thereby prevent the cupfrom rotating within the container.

Cup bracing members 17 not only serve to contact and thereby brace thecups held within the container, but also serve to reinforce and therebyadd rigidity to retaining members 10 and 11. Also, in the preferredembodiment illustrated in the drawings, retaining members 10 and 11carry external ridges 19 about their periphery to provide furtherrigidity.

Thus, the open-sided container of the preferred embodiment illustratedin FIGURES 1-3 is produced by molding two identical retaining members 10and 11 by a suitable method such as vacuum forming from a sheet ofthermoplastic material such as for example, a medium impact polystyrene,and then joining the ends of post sections 13 of individual retainingmembers 10 and 11 by a suitable method such as heat sealing, gluing, andthe like. The outer configuration of the retaining members allows themto be easily stacked for shipment from their point of manufacture to thelocation where the package is assembled by the above-described processfor joining the ends of post sections 13. It is, of course, noted thatretaining members 10 and 11 need not be identical in that retainingmember 11 need not have identations 15, and retaining member 10 need nothave indentations 14. However, it is generally more economical toproduce identical retaining members with a single molding apparatus ifthe shape of the particular objects to be held in the resultingcontainer will so allow.

After post sections 13 of retaining members 10 and 11 have been sealedtogether to thereby form the open-sided container, the cups can beinserted therewithin by pulling retaining members 10 and 11 apartadjacent each cup holding station and inserting the cup into position asillustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. The cups can be removed from thecontainer by a similar procedure, Retaining members and 11 havesufficient flexibility to allow this operation, but suificient rigiditynot to bend and permanently distort during the filing and emptyingprocedure.

It is generally preferred that retaining members 10 and 11 be held apartin a slightly flexed state by the action of the cups after they havebeen inserted within each cup holding station. Thus, it is preferredthat the cups hold the outer edges of the retaining members from aboutto about inch, preferably, about A inch farther apart than the normalfixed distance that the said retaining members are held apart by post 12while in a nonflexed state.

Preferably, when initially filling each container with the cups, it isgenerally desirable to position the cups upside down on retaining member10 with the top periphery of the cup lips positioned within indentations15 and the individual cup handles positioned between cup handle lockingprotrusions 16, and then to position retaining member 11 thereover sothat the bottom of each cup will fit within an indentation 14. The endof post sections 13 can then be sealed together to complete thecontainer. Thus, when the container is made of transparent plasticmaterial, the cups within the individual open-sided containers can beremoved from larger shipping crates and placed on display shelves by theretail merchant. The consumer can then visually inspect the cups withoutremoving them from the package. However, if desired, the individual cupscan be easily removed from the package for further inspection and theninserted back within the package.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are plan views illustrating other embodiments of thisinvention wherein and characters, respectively, represent similarcharacters as shown in FIGURES 1-3. FIGURE 4 illustrates an elongatedtwo-cup container of this invention. As shown, the container of FIGURE 4possesses all the basic elements of the container of FIGURES 1-3 exceptthat post member 12' is centered on the longitudinal axis of eachretaining member. FIGURE 5 illustrates an open-sided container of thisinvention adapted to carry six cups. As shown, post members 12 arepositioned on the longitudinal axis of each retaining member, so thatthe two center cups are seated therebetween, and the four outer cups areseated against support member 17" in a similar manner as illustrated inFIGURE 1.

As previously stated, the open-sided container of this invention can beadapted to carry various other fragile objects such as tumblers, bowls,ash trays, vases, etc. It is noted, that objects such as tumblers can beengaged and carried in the sideways position by the open-sided containerrather than the upright position of the cups as illustrated in thedrawings. It is also within the scope of this invention to utilize theopen-sided container of this invention to carry disposable consumeritems such as canned beverages and the like. Lastly, it also must benoted that even though the preferred embodiments of this invention havebeen described with relation to twopiece package components sealedtogether by post members, the open-sided container of this invention canalso be formed as a one-piece construction by injection molding, forexample.

I claim:

1. An open-sided container for holding a plurality of cups, open ends ofsaid cups having larger diameters than bottom ends thereof, saidcontainer comprising two opposed resilient identical molded plasticretaining members which are connected and held a fixed distance apart byat least one post member comprising a first protrusion integrally moldedto one retaining member and a second protrusion integrally molded to theother retaining member, the ends of said protrusions being sealedtogether to form said at least one post member, the opposed surfaces ofsaid retaining members carrying match ing indentations adjacent saidpost member for engaging said cups and holding them between said opposedretaining members, said indentations comprising an annular indentationadapted to hold the open end of each cup, and a depression centeredwithin each annular indentation adapted to hold the bottom of each cup.

2. The container of claim 1 further comprising protrusions positionedadjacent said annular indentations adapted to engage a handle attachedto each cup.

3. The container of claim 1 further comprising a strengthening ridgemolded about the periphery of each of said retaining members.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein said retaining members compriseelongated bodies attached by one said post member at the center of thelongitudinal axis of said elongated bodies, and said indentations arearranged to hold two cups on either side of said post member.

5. A container of claim 1 wherein said retaining members compriseelongated bodies attached by two post members on the longitudinal axisof each elongated body, and said indentations are arranged to hold sixcups between said retaining members and around said post,

6. The container of claim 1 wherein said retaining members aresubstantially symmetrical bodies attached by one said post member at thecenter of each said body, and said indentations are arranged to holdfour cups between said bodies and around said post.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,416,690 12/1968 Michael 206- X3,128,933 4/1964 Hohnjec 2292.5

3,360,150 12/ 19 67 Schechter.

3,369,659 2/1968 Ettlinger 21726 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,454,008 4/ 1966France.

MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner U.S. c1. X.R. 206-65; 217-265

